Football

Teammates encourage TE

Jayhawks give Biere show of support

The North Dakota State defense scrambles to recover a fumble by Kansas tight end Tim Biere late in the fourth quarter, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010 at Kivisto Field. The fumble was Biere's second of the game.

KU coach Turner Gill talks after the Jayhawks' 6-3 loss

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KU quarterback Jordan Webb says he could feel NDSU's momentum building throughout the game

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Live updates from the Newell Post Live, coming to you from Memorial Stadium where the Kansas Jayhawks are taking on the North Dakota State Bison.

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KU vs. NDSU

Receiver Daymond Patterson made sure to find Tim Biere in the locker room after Kansas University’s 6-3 loss to North Dakota State on Saturday.

He wasn’t the only one. Patterson said many of KU’s players made their way over to Biere after the worst game of his college career.

The tight end shook his head while taking in the encouragement.

“I just told him to keep his head up,” Patterson said. “I’m not really concerned about how bad he felt he played or bad everybody else thinks he played, because I know Tim’s a great player.”

Truthfully, the junior from Omaha, Neb., couldn’t have had much worse of a night in KU’s opener.

Biere caught two passes and fumbled both of them. The second muff was especially costly, as it killed a KU drive with just 3:10 left.

“We’ll keep working him, putting him in those situations where it doesn’t happen again,” KU coach Turner Gill said. “I still feel confident in him. He’s got to get his confidence back, and the only way he can do that is by going back out there.”

Biere’s game ended with a tough final drive.

After dropping a pass, he was booed loudly by KU fans.

Immediately after, when Biere was subbed out, the Jayhawk faithful cheered the coaches’ decision as the tight end made his way to the sideline.

“I think it is crazy,” Patterson said of the booing. “Sometimes people have bad games. They don’t know what ... the fans or people on the outside don’t know what we go through and the hours we put in. For them to boo him, I felt bad, because Tim is a good guy.”

Biere dropped at least three passes; according to the box score, he was targeted for eight throws.

“The hardest person on Tim is going to be Tim,” KU quarterback Jordan Webb said. “He’s such a driven, motivated player and person. He’s so motivated in every aspect of his life.

“He wants to be the best — he really does — and I think he has a shot to be the best. I think he has the shot to be something really special for us. This will just be a minor setback for him.”

Biere’s first fumble came at the end of the third quarter with the game still tied at 3.

Following the turnover, NDSU drove 30 yards on seven plays to set up what turned out to be the game-deciding field goal.

“Obviously, he’s still got to take care of the football, but that’s the game of football,” Gill said. “They hit him and jarred the football loose, and you’ve got to give North Dakota State some credit to their safeties and defensive backs.”

Patterson said he was sure that Biere would bounce back.

“We believe in him and we have faith in him, because we’ve seen him day after day make great catches, great plays,” Patterson said, “and we know he’s going to continue to do that for us.”

Sorry hawk fanboys and girls, but if ya play like he did and continue to stink it up all the excuses or wannabe football players explanations don't matter a lick. Boo people who you pay money to see who don't look like they spent 7,8, 9 months practicing catching and then HOLDING ON TO THE BALL, novel idea huh?

I will agree that he had a terrible game, but that happens. It's sports. It's tough to strike a balance of trying to get a talented TE back on his game and maybe trying some other options in your offense. However, booing the kid is never acceptible... unless he wears gold and black.

Booing a college kid playing a game is pathetic. I know it makes a bunch of people feel like their lives aren't so pathetic to feel superior to a young man down on the field who is struggling. How empty must the lives of the booers be? I just enjoyed an evening of college football and look forward to the next game. I love watching the game. I love the Jayhawks. I love the University of Kansas. I would never, under any circumstances, sit there and boo a kid having a tough night like that. I remember Derek Fine having a really rough night a few years ago in Lincoln where he dropped a ton of passes in a tight game that we could have won.

We all have days like that in our lives. Most of us are fortunate enough that they're not televised.

Looks like Timmy boy needs some extra sticky on those gloves. My question is, why did the coaching staff keep drawing up plays for him if they could see he wasn't catching the ball? But I'm no football coach so...

A big lot of the people who boo a football player never played a down of football in their life. Tim will come back and catch some passes . We have a lot of football left and we
are going to win some games!!!

doesnt make a difference if they've played a down of football. If you kill all the fans hope then you get to enjoy the fans anger and disappointment. fans watch a lot of football, we know bad play when we see it

As much as Biere contributed to lastnight's stench in Memorial Stadium, the offense as a whole stunk pretty bad. Let me say, I was not high on the Gill hire from the beginning, but I was willing to give the man and his staff a shot. Lastnight wasn't what I signed my name up for when I purchased season tickets. I'll take a loss any day, but not to a North Dakota State Div-1AA team. Pathetic...Pathetic...Pathetic...

That offensive line was supposed to be one of our strengths...ATROCIOUS!! And I believe aside from the QB's, the only Jayhawk to touch the ball more was Patterson....Where the hell was Wilson?? I heard his name twice....and my God ....could we not have used Operum lastnight?? Oh that's right...he's a linebacker now...great move Gill!! What a great display of how to utilize the talent we do have...

In defense of Biere, he got laid out on the last fumble. That was prob. a 50/50 for anyone to hang on to the ball. The first fumble was not acceptable. Don't remember seeing any offensive sets with a full back in the backfield, not that it would have prob. changed things. Defense looked slow and our defensive line got pushed around the whole game. NDSU was able to move the ball on the ground on a pretty regular basis and had open recievers most of the game. I am not even going to comment on the Offensive line and their inability to pick up defensive line stunts and shifts that are tought in junior high. The entire game plan both offensive and defensive looked disorganized and should be expected only from a level of football comparable to that of a bad high school team. All in all I believe that coaching was the main contributer to loosing this game not two fumbles. Biere should have never been in the position of a fumble making or breaking the outcome of this game. Mr. Biere, keep your head up, you are not the first athlete to fumble twice in a game and sure won't be the last. This may have been the worst loss in KU football history given the level of competition that was played. We can not accept irrelavence for our football program once again. We had a taste of the good life in 2007 and 2008 was not too bad. It is not acceptable to be good every 20-30 years and I hope this loss was not a precursor to that type of irrelavence.

As much as Biere stunk it up, its probably best not to boo student-athletes. A "coach" making 2 mil a year that shows up to his debut with a team that was obviously poorly prepared - THAT is worth booing.

JayDocMD - I agree. It appeared the Hawks thought all they had to do is go through the motions and they would hang 45 points on the scoreboard. The offense was not prepared and not concentrating on assignments. Can't do that with a green offense and inexperienced quarterbacks. Kudos to the Defensive coaches as they were prepared.

That said, I think Gill will turn this thing around. But he is going to have to earn his pay to do it and burn some mid-night oil.

I have faith in Gill as well but a lot of changes need to be considered.

Smart plays. Beshears almost took the opening kickoff out of the endzone and then back in. And Barfield intercepted that ball and took it out and took 19 yards away from our offense.

Rojas shouldn't need 4 seconds to get a punt off. Tighten up that motion and get those punts out quicker.

The O-Line was lacking chemistry. Why we aren't using the same 5 starters from last year I don't know, but I bet the chemistry would have been better with Hatch and Spikes.

Move Opurum back to RB. Quigley is in his 6th year at KU. There is probably a reason he didn't beat out Cornish, McAnderson, Sharp and Opurum at the RB position in years past.

QB play. Pick looked afraid to take any chances downfield and thus held onto the ball way too long. Webb seemed to have decent form, but the only reason we moved the ball down the field was because of NDSU penalties.

Brandstetter = 39 yards or shorter. Period.

Play calling was extremely passive. We threw 2 passes that were 20 yards or longer. One to McDougald and the other to Biere. I'm not counting the Patterson catch that was a 3 yard pass and he ran for 45 yards.

Freshman RBs. Weren't we supposed to see either Bourbon or Sims?

That was a pathetic performance, but Gill deserves at LEAST 2 full seasons before we pass judgement. Hopefully he can steal either the GT or Southern Miss game. And I realize the GT game will be a prayer.

Just shows how many new bandwagon KU fans are out there now.. This isn't your Missouri Chiefs, this is college athletics. YOU DON'T BOO PLAYERS, maybe coaches, but not players. The coaching staff is largely to blame and should have quit scheming plays that even involved him as the game went on.. People do have off nights and good coaches realize that early and look for other potential playmakers. Not real KU fans if you boo a student athlete. Imagine if there was a recruit in the stands and he was deciding if he should become a Jayhawk.. Go back to Missouri and root/boo for your Chefs!

My dream in life is to one day be as creative as arizona alum, aka mulaza. What I wouldn't do to have this individuals ability to go through life and find all the faults with everything and everyone. I could finally feel intelligent and far superior to those idiots that blindly go through life trying to find the good in things.

By the way arizona alum - I believe that you've done an excellent job of wearing out the whole Coach Gill and his distaste for cursing angle in your endless supply of "humor".

Certainly this tight end's performance was a major factor in the game, but above everything else, he needs the encouragement his coaches and teammates are giving him. The rest of us need to do the same. We just need to encourage these guys to get better every week.

This is the only college team I support and and I'm going to do that, particularly on days like today.

Hey...you think Gill hands out a game-ball even after a loss? If he did, I bet Biere got it. That ought to encourage and motivate our players. Why you ask? Because one, we all tried hard. Two, we're all winners, and three we're all still dear friends.

Booing a kid is simply low class. Rationalize all you want, but the fact remains. I'm sure there is no one who is more disappointed in his play than Biere. Any kid that goes out and performs his best, should not be the target of cowards imposing public humiliation.
Also, if "fans" want him to play better then give encouragement, not kicking a kids when he is down.
When I heard the booing I was embarrassed that these were people that called themselves Jayhawks. Not cool.

I do not accept or condone booing, just for the record. How much money is Gill getting paid? 2.3 million? 2.3 million dollars to score three points. That my friends is unacceptable! Like one poster said--I will give Gill the benefit of the doubt--at least, for awhile. Everyone has bad games. It wasn't totally Biere's fault that we lost the game. The offensive line--OMG! The blocking. The missed field goal. The apparent touchdown-saving tackle by the NDSU's kicker. On & on. How about the mismanagement of timeouts in the second half? Oh my! Gill has to have timeouts in the end. He makes those kind of mistakes during the Big 12 Conference games, Gill will be eating alive by bigger fish--no pun intended. The good news and silver lining, if there is one---there is no where to go but up and improve on all aspects of the game. Unfortunately, Georgia Tech comes to town, and, I hope to goodness sakes we have a better showing against the Yellow Jackets than we did against the Bison. I have a friend I work with who is a KU alum. He has plans to go to the GA. Tech game. I might ask him on Tuesday---do you REALLY want to go? I am sure he will--because he will not give up on his Jayhawks and neither will I. But there has to be improvement. And, geeze, Jayhawks---show some enthusiasm and emotion! I know the team can do better in that department. Rock Chalk!

Yep, as bad as some of KU teams have been in the past when was the last time
we lost a home opener to a D-2 team? Totally unacceptable. Furthermore what
really ticks me off is all the coaches and players kept saying they were ready.
Define READY???

Once again I must correct people who say we lost to a D-2 team. NDSU is a D-1AA team - big difference. Yes, they used to be in D-2 and they lost to Pitt State in the early '90's, as someone pointed out. OK, so now we are talking about losing to a team we shouldn't have (no argument there), but let's get off of what a school used to be 19 years ago. We also lost to Wichita State in 1982, and now they don't even field a football team. That's pretty embarrassing also, but we eventually got past it.

It is way too early for people to be jumping ship over this. Yes I didn't like it very much either, and Biere's play was a big factor, but hardly the only negative. However he did pretty well last year, and I think he will rebound strong from this. To those of you who want to bail, I give you this - Washington was 0-12 a couple years ago. They have had a strong program for a lot of years. Not predicting immediate titles for them, but I will bet they come back from that debacle and be a relevant team again. Their fans continued to support them thru that, and Jayhawk Nation needs to stay behind this group as well. Rock Chalk!!

When a Jayhawk player picks up a paycheck to do his job, then you can boo him.

These KIDS are playing this game in their spare time while they go to school. In the meantime, enjoy the anonymity of the stands and computer screen when you boo and try to defend your actions. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, "It's not the critic who counts." To paraphrase: if you booed Saturday night, you are pathetic. Get your priorities straight!

By the way, we pay to see these kids represent our beloved university. They are going to win some and lose some. All we can ask for is effort. You have no right to expect a superior product just because you bought season tickets!

Now if a KU player cold-clocks someone from another team like that Oregon RB did last year after the Boise St. game, that's an acceptable reason to boo a person's actions. Dropped passes and fumbles are part of the game, like it or not. Period.

Now for the real KU fans, here is why we have reason to hope:

Defenses are always ahead of offenses early in the season. This is especially true following a coaching transition. The O will come around. Probably not in time for GT, but I think we can now temper expectations.

That loss really ticks off the players who want to win more than we want them to. They will come out with all they have.

Coach Gill is doing things the right way. He will succeed.

I don't care who the opponent is, when you hold a team to six points and prevent a score when the opponent is given the ball on the ten yard line, that's something to celebrate. Especially considering the experts thought the D would be a weak spot.

In response to point 3 that you made - what on earth did you see from the coaching staff that instilled confidence in them? That was the most ill prepared I have seen KU in a decade.
False starts galore, returning an end zone INT to the 1, running the same dozen plays over and over and over, not letting our best RB see the field when you decide you are going to have your offense revolve around the run?

That's precisely what I expect to see in the first game of the year from a young group of kids. I'm not going to say that I wouldn't like to see them open it up a bit, but I think that's asking a lot of this group so early on.

My point is that so many fans think the sky is falling. For them, I bring up two bad words: Bucknell and Bradley.

I am sure glad we decided to stick with Coach Self and his "less exciting" brand of basketball.

Comparisons to Self and the hoops program miss the mark for too many reasons to go into here.

That is not at all what I expected to see. When an offensive line has multiple false starts it shows that they are undisciplined or are ill prepared.

When we only run the same 10-12 plays that have been ineffective the whole game even when the clock is winding down in the 4th quarter, it appears the coaching staff has been caught off guard and unprepared or is unwilling to male adjustments when things aren't going according to plan.

I'm willing to give it time. Even though we can't get Gill to make a substantive comment on how the team played, the one piece of coach speak he offered up is true - it was just one game. I hope the coaching staff is a little more prepared and motivated going forward.

I hear what you're saying and you make some good points (and oh, how I wish the team could have come out in mid-season form,) but I am going to stand by the comparison to Coach Self for one good reason. Coach Williams gave us an exciting brand of basketball and nearly took us all the way. Despite eventual letdowns year-after-year, it's impossible not to admit that we had sustained a high level of success.

When Self came in and we played the high-low, slow-down tempo, there were complaints. When we started losing early in the tournament, there were calls for his head on this website. Sure, Turner Gill isn't in Bill Self's league, but where he goes, he makes programs better. He will do the same to ours if we give him time.

I've been a h.s. coach for the last twelve years and I can tell you that there is much more going on on the field than we see from the stands. It's easy for us to question calls. The men in the booth see something that might be exploited, and they make the call. If it works, all is well. If it doesn't, they take the blame.

Could it be that we are green enough to not be ready to expand the offense already?

We spend countless hours repeating a core of plays, adding new ones when we feel confident the team is ready. But on game day we know which plays we can run for success and which ones we need to work on. In a tight game, I might take a chance on a play they aren't expecting, but if my level of confidence in said play is low, it could easily backfire. Too easily. That's a big risk to take in a three-point game. In a perfect world we would just throw in a flea flicker once every other series and the defense would be stupid to bite on it.

We're used to seeing Reesing create plays out of nothing, and we are used to watching the offense roll down the field. My first question when they hired HCTG was what kind of offense does he run. It should have been, what does he have left in the cabinet, and how can he build the offense around those ingredients.